STC generates US$9.6 billion worth of shares with initial IPO

Saudi Telecommunications Company’s initial public offering (IPO) has generated 36 billion riyals (US$9.6 billion) worth of requests for shares. Around 800,000 buyers from throughout the Kingdom deposited money for the shares and, as a result, the IPO was over subscribed three and half times.

“At [the] close of the IPO, the value of requests filed by citizens was 36 billion riyals (US$9.6 billion). The process was a huge success,” Ibrahim Al Assaf, finiance minister for Saudi Arabia, told AFP.

Two thirds of the shares were reserved for Saudi individuals and the balance for two public pension funds. Sold for US$45 each during the IPO, economic studies have predicted that that STC shares will start trading at more than US$50.

However, when exactly shareholders will be able to begin trading their new shares is unclear as Assaf said the government has yet to determine the exact date to list the firm on the Saudi bourse.